State Briefs

Heavy rain predicted for midweek

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The National Weather Service said heavy rain is expected this week with a chance for severe storms as a front moves through the state.

Forecasters said 1 to 3 inches of rain is possible today and Wednesday, with up to 4 inches in areas of southeast Arkansas.

The weather service said a line of storms is expected to form Wednesday afternoon and evening in central and eastern Arkansas. Some areas could see strong or damaging winds as the storms move toward the Mississippi River.

Forecasters said severe weather could break out if a "cap" in the atmosphere weakens between warmer, moist weather and a cold front. If that happens, large hail and isolated tornadoes are possible.

Man dies after shooting in Searcy

SEARCY (AP) - Police are investigating after a 27-year-old man was fatally shot at a Searcy apartment complex.

Police responded to a call of shots fired Sunday afternoon at the Searcy Apartments on North Pine Street. Police identified the victim as Chris Pruitt of Searcy.

Police told The Daily Citizen that witnesses reported seeing a vehicle driving erratically from the apartment complex shortly after the shooting. Officers later discovered that the vehicle was used to take Pruitt to White County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Searcy police said detectives were seeking several persons of interest in connection with the shooting.

Police investigate LR fatal shooting

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Police are investigating after a man was found shot to death at a southwest Little Rock mobile home park. Police say officers were called to the mobile home park at about 10 p.m. Sunday on reports of shots fired. Once there, officers Officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds near one of the trailers.

Police say the victim was taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he died at about 3 a.m. Monday.

Authorities say they don't yet have a suspect or motive for the fatal shooting.

Deputy sheriff dies after NLR training exercise

NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A Faulkner County sheriff's deputy died after collapsing following a training session in North Little Rock.

Faulkner County Sheriff Andy Shock told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that 32-year-old Deputy Hans Fifer had completed a SWAT training program when he complained of shortness of breath. Shock said medical workers at the scene began giving Fifer oxygen - but he the complained of chest pains and collapsed.

Shock said Fifer was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A cause of death had not been released. Shock said he thought Fifer may have had a health problem that he wasn't aware of.

The training included physical activities such as running, jumping and pushups.

Arkansas inmates seek clarification in FOIA case

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Six death row inmates who asked a judge to order the Arkansas Department of Correction to turn over documents about lethal injection drugs now want the judge to clarify his ruling in the case.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Collins Kilgore ruled last month that the inmates can't use Arkansas' open records law to obtain information about the origin, history of quality of the drugs the state will use to execute them.

But the inmates say Kilgore's order did not mention their request for judgment about the release of documents under the state's new lethal injection law.

The Legislature enacted the new lethal injection law this year after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that lawmakers had given the Correction Department too much control.

Arkansas doesn't have any pending executions.

Even in pro-gun states, bid to arm teachers stalls

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - When a gunman killed 26 children and staff at a Connecticut grade school, proposals to let teachers carry hidden guns into the classroom soon proliferated in many Republican-led states.

But less than four months later, the quest to put guns in schools has stalled in many traditionally gun-friendly states after encountering opposition from educators, reluctance from some governors and ambivalence from legislative leaders more focused on economic initiatives.

So far, South Dakota is the only state to respond with a new law allowing school personnel to carry guns into elementary and high schools. A similar proposal is poised for passage in Kansas. And Arkansas has enacted a new law allowing colleges to let staff with concealed gun permits bring their weapons on campus.

Animals released into wild after Ark. oil spill

MAYFLOWER (AP) - Officials have released some animals back into the wild after they were rescued and cleaned up following an oil spill in central Arkansas.

Crews on Monday brought a pair of raccoons and several turtles to the Bell Slough State Wildlife Management Area near Mayflower.

Their release comes more than a week after an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured in Mayflower and spilled thousands of barrels of oil on March 29.

Oil spewed onto lawns and roadways and almost fouled nearby Lake Conway. No one was hurt, but the spill led authorities to evacuate more than 20 homes.

Officials say a number of oily ducks are being cleaned and will be released in a few weeks. More than 20 ducks and several other animals have also been found dead.

Federal inspectors head to Arkansas Nuclear One

RUSSELLVILLE (AP) - The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending a team of inspectors to Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville to review an accident that killed one worker and injured eight others.

The accident occurred March 31 when a 550-ton piece of equipment fell as a lifting rig collapsed. Authorities say 24-year-old Wade Walters of Russellville was killed when the equipment fell on him.

The NRC says there was no release of radiation or danger to the public because of the accident.

The NRC inspection team will create a chronology of the accident, evaluate the adequacy of the response to the accident and look for factors that may have contributed to the accident.

The NRC says it will hold a public meeting when the inspection team finishes its work.

Ex-teacher to stand trial on student-sex charges

BENTON (AP) - A former Bryant High School teacher suspected of having sex with a 17-year-old student has been ordered to stand trial.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Speer did not speak during the hearing and that she and her attorney declined comment afterward. She has pleaded not guilty.

Police say the teenager told detectives that the two had sex several times at her home in Benton.

Speer resigned as an English teacher on Oct. 1 and was formally charged two days later.

Ark. Senate OKs unemployment drug testing bill

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas Senate has approved legislation that would subject some of the 85,000 Arkansas residents receiving unemployment benefits to random drug testing.

By a 25-5 vote, the Senate on Monday passed a proposal by Republican Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson of Benton that would require unemployment recipients to agree to submit to random drug testing. Hutchinson has said the testing would cost the state less than $30,000 a year to administer.

Hutchinson's proposal would require unemployment applicants and recipients to consent to random drug testing in order to receive benefits. The measure leaves it up to the state Department of Workforce Services to decide how to set up the testing.

The proposal would also prohibit the drug test results from being released or used as evidence for criminal prosecution.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

State Briefs

The National Weather Service said heavy rain is expected this week with a chance for severe storms as a front moves through the state.